Just another day at the golf course with Ed Perlmutter and Barack Obama. (Photo courtesy of Ed Perlmutter’s office)

WASHINGTON — For a game that’s allegedly fun, golf comes with a lot of pressure — putting alone has been known to drive some players to rage.

But none of the usual stress-points compare to the pressure cooker that faced U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter on the green this past Sunday. Not only did the Colorado Democrat have to contend with the awful humidity that is Washington in the summer, but one member of his foursome just happened to be the leader of the free world.

Who’s not too bad of a golfer either, Perlmutter said.

“You don’t get to be president of the United States without being a competitor,” said Perlmutter. “And he’s a competitor.”

Joining Perlmutter were two other House Democrats: John Yarmuth of Kentucky and Joe Courtney of Connecticut. Perlmutter said he was teamed with Yarmuth and that Barack Obama was paired with Courtney.

They played at nearby Joint Base Andrews on the facility’s east course.

“It was actually a lot of fun,” said Perlmutter – who added that he wasn’t happy with his play for most of the four-hour session.

“I was very nervous and didn’t play very well for about the first 15 holes,” he said. “The president says he’s a 14 handicapper but he was playing a lot better than that yesterday.”

Stein also ran for president in 2012, receiving 7,508 votes from Colorado voters. Democrat Barack Obama received 1.3 million votes to Republican Mitt Romney’s 1.1 million votes, according to the Colorado Secretary of State. There are 8,832 active Green Party members in Colorado, the latest registration figures show.

She announced candidacy today on Democracy Now. Stein believes in a “deep system change” that moves from the “greed and exploitation of corporate capitalism to a human-centered economy that puts people, planet and peace over profit.”

“Their endless wars are not our wars,” she says in her video.

She said there are many similarities between her vision and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ vision. The Vermont independent, who is seeking the nomination as a Democrat, spoke in Denver on Saturday.

The Democrats beat the Republicans by a score of 5-2. Chipping in for the victory was U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder. According to his office, he sacrificed for an RBI in his first-at-bat, got on board on an error the next time and then doubled for an RBI on his third trip to the plate.

President Barack Obama also showed up — in a rare appearance for a sitting president. It’s Washington, so obviously there’s some business involved somehow (the game was the day before a critical vote on trade). But Obama still found time to pose with lawmakers.

U.S. Michael Bennet is being targeted by Republicans ahead of the 2016 election. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

WASHINGTON — Negotiators of a major trade deal were dealt a significant setback Tuesday after Senate Democrats — including Michael Bennet of Colorado — blocked legislation that would have given President Barack Obama more power to set the terms of international agreements.

The issue has divided Democrats in recent months, with Obama lobbying for passage and fellow party members, including Minority Leader Harry Reid, angling to stop it. Traditional Democratic allies, including unions and environmentalists, also have called on Congress to kill the so-called “fast track” legislation because of fears of pollution and lost jobs.

At its core, the fast-track measure would empower Obama to negotiate trade deals with foreign governments and afterward send the proposal to Congress for a simple yes-or-no vote. That authority is considered crucial for the passage of complicated deals because it prevents Congress from debating to death these trade agreements.

It “gives our nation’s negotiators the chance to strike the best deals possible for American workers while still giving Congress the chance to vote yes or no on any final agreement,” said U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., in a statement.

Obama has pushed for this power so that he can more easily gain acceptance for an upcoming trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim countries called the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Yet in spite of rare support from Senate Republicans, Obama has been unable to convince fellow Democrats to support the legislation.

WASHINGTON — Students from kindergarten to high school would get broad new protections for their digital information under a bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, and Luke Messer, R-Ind.

The measure, which has been in the works for months, seeks to address growing concerns by parents about the use of technology in U.S. schools and the amount of data collected by education companies.

President Barack Obama called for new such rules in January and the Polis-Messer bill would prohibit the sale of a student’s data to third parties, force tech companies to disclose the data they are collecting and grant new enforcement powers to the Federal Trade Commission.

“The status quo surrounding the protection of our student’s data is entirely unacceptable,” Polis said in a statement. “It’s like the wild wild West — there are few regulations protecting student’s privacy and parental rights, and the ones that do exist were written in an age before smartphones and tablets.”

The bill’s introduction hasn’t been all smooth.

Polis and Messer were set to drop the measure a month ago but last-minute criticism from parents and privacy advocates compelled the lawmakers to rewrite some sections.

Polis said in a press call that one major change was that tech companies now would be required to tell parents about the type of student information that could be disclosed.

But Polis, who made a fortune in the online world before coming to Congress, said it was critical that the new rules are not too restrictive, as there could be “immense positive benefits” to data collection in schools.

The measure would allow companies to use the information they gather in schools to tweak and improve their own products.

The city of Denver on Monday said it signed on to a court brief by dozens of cities and counties in support of President Barack Obama’s immigration executive action.

A federal judge in February issued a preliminary injunction barring the government from carrying out immediate provisions of Obama’s executive action. Ultimately, the administration says his action could spare up to 5 million people from deportation for living in the United States illegally. The judge’s ruling came in a case brought by Texas and 25 other states that challenges Obama’s move as unconstitutional.

The Justice Department is preparing to argue for the court to lift its hold during a hearing April 17. Mayor Michael Hancock decided that Denver, a member of Cities United for Immigration Action, would join a friend-of-the-court brief in support of that argument.

It has been signed by 71 cities and counties as well as the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks to the media with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, left, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, center back, and Hawaii Gov.-elect David Ige, right, during the 2014 National Governors Association seminar for new governors in Westminster in November. (Photo By Brenden Neville / Special to The Denver Post)

Colorado got a mention when President Barack Obama addressed Democratic governors at as part of a National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I want to welcome the Democratic governors to this meeting and thank them for all the outstanding work that they are doing. I am a little concerned that David Ige, of Hawaii, does not know what to do with this weather. (Laughter.) I don’t even know if he owns a winter coat.

Other nonpartisan polls — and a polling average — put his disapproval deficit at closer to 16 percentage points.

Still, the poll shows that 58 percent of Colorado want the next president to change direction, compared to 34 percent who believe his successor to continue his policies.

Even though Obama won’t face re-election again, the numbers are still being closely watched as an indication for how Democrats will perform in 2016 — when Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, is running for a second term.

The president’s approval numbers appear mixed in the 2016 context, but another number looks good for Bennet, if he can tap into the sentiment: 69 percent are satisfied with how things are going in Colorado, compared to only 31 percent dissatisfied.

The numbers — as well as ratings of the state’s economy — are the best in all recent Quinnipiac polls, going back to June 2013.

WASHINGTON — Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Tuesday afternoon that he supported the administration’s pledge to veto new legislation from Congress that would fast-track construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Earlier in the day, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, confirmed that President Barack Obama would veto a pro-Keystone XL measure that new Republican majorities in Congress have made a top priority at the start of the latest session.

Hickenlooper said Obama, a fellow Democrat, was making the right call in opposing the U.S.-Canada oil pipeline.

“He has not been persuaded that this something in the best interest — long-term — of the United States,” Hickenlooper said. “I know there are a lot of people in Colorado who disagree with that (but) … with the price of oil down as low as it is, I don’t think the Keystone pipeline makes sense.”

Hickenlooper was in Washington this week for a series of meetings with Obama and other administration officials as part of his role as chair of the National Governors Association.

Earlier in the day, Hickenlooper gave a State of the States address at the National Press Club that emphasized innovations outside Washington.

With a new Congress taking the helm Tuesday, Hickenlooper said “we have a clean slate, a fresh start.”

“As the House and Senate and administration put their agendas together, we are asking them to look to the states,” he said. “Gridlock, too often, may be the norm here in Washington, D.C., but that does not hold true in the states.”

WASHINGTON — Colorado’s two U.S. senators today urged President Barack Obama to designate Browns Canyon in Chaffee County as a national monument; a move that would protect the area from future development and highlight its importance as a haven for fishing, hiking and whitewater rafting.

The request from Democratic U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet basically is a back-up plan in case Congress doesn’t approve similar legislation co-sponsored by the two lawmakers that would preserve about 22,000 acres along the Arkansas River between Salida and Buena Vista.

Only a few weeks remain in the 113th session of Congress, and with Udall headed out the door after losing his re-election bid to Republican Cory Gardner, the two men are looking to Obama to wield his executive power to protect Browns Canyon.

“While we remain committed to the legislative process, the gridlock in Congress has stymied this proposal and many others,” wrote Udall and Bennet in a letter dated Tuesday. “We feel the future economic benefits of a national monument designation are significant for the region, and we should not allow Congressional gridlock to deprive Colorado of those benefits.”

Specifically, they suggest that Obama use his authority under the Antiquities Act — a law that dates back to the presidency of famed conservationist Theodore Roosevelt — to “begin the process of evaluating whether Browns Canyon should be designated as a National Monument,” they wrote.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.